By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 3 Jun: Eminent environmentalist Dr Rajendra Singh, who was awarded the Magsaysay Award, said that if youth make efforts, then the crisis faced by falling water levels can be overcome. Renowned as ‘Jal Purush’, Dr Rajendra Singh was addressing the youth at the Graphic Era Hill University today as a part of the Amrit Mahotsav- celebration of freedom.
Dr Rajendra Singh said that, if the youth learn the traditional measures of water conservation, then in the coming times, the situation arising out of water scarcity can go away. He said that Alwar district has been rejuvenated in the last two decades by traditional methods of water conservation and 7 rivers have been revived. To collect rainwater for the dry season, water has been brought back to more than 1000 villages from more than 8006 johads and other water conservation structures. Due to their combined effect, the temperature of the area has also dropped by 2 degrees.
This traditional practice of Rajasthan not only provides an understanding of ground water but also develops an understanding of the flow of rivers, peaks and slopes and without the use of cement, steel, and iron in the right places. Water can be transported to other sources from the stagnant water in the dam, that only collects underground and natural greenery grows.
On this occasion, Vice Chancellor of Graphic Era Hill University, Professor Dr J Kumar, while welcoming Dr Rajendra Singh, said that experiments are being done in the field of agriculture in Uttarakhand to increase crops and food production by using technology.
On this occasion, President, Indian Himalayan River Basin Council, Dr Indira Khurana, apprised the students about the various works related to water conservation in Uttarakhand. Registrar Graphic Era Hill University, Captain Himanshu Dhuliya, Coordinator of the programme Dr Reema Pant and Dr K Joshi, Head of the Department of Environmental Science were present.
